Saturday, April 22, 2006

La Prensa Grafica reports today that El Salvador's legislative assembly is "two steps away" from modifying the Republic's Constitution to ban marriages between people of the same sex and prohibiting adoptions by gay couples as well. A legislative bill, introduced by the centrist Christian Democratic Party (PDC), would ad language to the Constitution's "family code" defining marriage as that between members that were born with the opposite sex.

The amendment to Article 34 of the Constitution also states that "Persons united in a marriage that is legally recognized in El Salvador will be able to adopt. Adoption by couples of the same sex is prohibited."

The right-wing political party ARENA is already on board saying that they are "completely in agreement" with the amendment (the article does not mention who gave them this statement).

As for the left-wing FMLN which fought ARENA as a guerrilla movement in a bloody civil war before hanging their arms and becoming a political party? Walter Duran, their spokesperson, said: "This guarantees the stability of the family and cements moral principles that are prevalent in our society, such as not allowing homosexual unions or any other type of norms that guarantee the stability of heterosexual marriage as the basis of the family. Values such as these must be guaranteed by the constitution."

The PDC is confident that the backing from ARENA and the FMLN means that the amendmentg is on its way to be adopted by a wide majority. It would have to be ratified by a second legislative vote in order to pass.